Leif found this calculator that will help you figure out what your basal metabolic rate is, how many calories you burn in a typical day's activities (excluding exercise), and how many calories you burn overall each day. I thought it was interesting, and was surprised to learn that I was right about this all along. I've always thought that 1200-1500 calories was right for me when I'm trying to lose weight and that 1700/1800 was about what I needed to maintain my weight. Sure enough, the calculator agrees with me.
Resting (basal) metabolic rate: 1239 calories per day
Typical daily activities: 619 calories per day
Total calories burned: 1858 per day
Now for a little math:
So... assuming I am not exercising at all, if I take in 1200 calories and am expending 1850, that gives me an excess of 650 calories a day. 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories. So if I don't exercise at all, just reduce my calorie intake to 1200, it should take me a little over 5 days to lose 1 pound. But if I do exercise and burn, say, 250 calories a day, four days a week, that adds another 1000 calories to my expenditure. For each week, then, I have an excess calorie expenditure of 5550 calories and should be able to lose a pound and a half each week. If I lose 1.5 lbs each week from now until I reach my goal, I will weigh 110 lbs by August 20th!
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